(JOAU  OF  Fi^l® 


FKOM  OFF  THE 


MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


If  thou  forbear  to  deliver  them  that  are  drawn  unto  deaths 
And  those  that  are  ready  to  he  slain; 

If  thou  sayest,  Behold,  we  knew  it  not; 

Doth  not  He  that  pondereth  the  heart  consider  it  f 

And  He  that  keepeth  THY  soul,  doth  not  He  know  it  f 

And  shall  not  He  render  to  every  man  accordiny  to  his  works f 

Proverbs  xxiv.  11-12. 


MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 
805  Broadway,  New  York. 

18  8  8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/coalsoffirefromoOOpuns 


Christ  Enthroned,  the  Sufficient  Inspiration. 

By  Rev.  W.  M.  PUNSHON,  LL.D. 

The  more  we  connect  this  missionary  work  with 
a  personal  Christ,  a  living  Jesus,  the  more  thoroughly 
will  it  commend  itself  to  our  sympathy,  and  be  an 
inspiration  to  everything  we  have  to  do.  Christ 
is  enthroned;  we  know  He  is  enthroned;  we  do  not 
see  yet  all  things  put  under  Him;  but  He  sits 
upon  the  throne,  and  the  holy  hill  of  Zion  upon 
which  God  has  set  His  King  is  a  heavenly  and  not 
an  earthly  mountain.  From  the  triumph  of  the 
cross  and  the  triumph  of  the  sepulchre  He  arose 
to  the  triumph  of  the  throne.  The  Ascension  ig  the 
last  royal  fact  in  a  magnificent  series — prophecy, 
advent,  expiation,  resurrection,  empire.  There  they 
are,  and  it  is  our  Emanuel  that  is  exalted  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  When  the  triumphal 
chariot  came  to  fetch  Him  from  the  summit  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives  He  would  not  drop  the  body ; 


4 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


the  humanity  to  which  He  had  stooped,  which  He 
had  worn,  in  which  He  had  suffered,  in  which  He  had 
triumphed,  shared  the  exaltation  as  it  had  shared  the 
agony  and  the  shame;  and  it  is  our  Jesus,  ours  still, 
ours  always,  who  sits  upon  the  right  hand  of  Power, 
and  who  sways  the  scepter  of  the  worlds. 

We  may  rest  here.  Christ  crucified,  Christ  risen, 
Christ  enthroned.  We  may  rest  here.  Oh!  I  want 
us  to  do  this,  and  it  is  this  to  which  oui’  faith  legiti¬ 
mately  carries  us.  Bring  your  offerings,  then,  bring 
your  prayers,  do  not  cease  your  personal  service,  for 
you  have  enlisted  on  the  winning  side. 

I  tell  you,  as  a  warm  friend  of  missionary  opera¬ 
tions,  cease  your  efforts,  disorganize  your  societies, 
call  home  your  missionaries,  despond,  hopelessly  and 
forever  despond,  if  you  believe  in  a  dead  Christ.  If 
you  do  not  believe  in  a  Christ  who,  dying  once,  dieth 
now  no  more,  who  is  Christ  enthroned,  looking  for 
the  establishment  of  His  kingdom,  and  watching 
over  the  progress  of  His  chosen  Church,  your  enemies 
will  overthrow  you,  the  fiends  will  be  too  many  for 
you,  the  world’s  woes  will  mock  you  to  relieve  them 
if  you  believe  in  a  dead  Christ.  But  if  you  have 
a  living  faith  in  a  living  Jesus,  if  you  know  and  feel 
that  in  this  work  you  are  doing,  you  are  working  to 
lift  the  world,  not  so  much  from  sin  as  for  Christ, 
and  to  Christ,  and  with  Christ;  if  you  realize  in 
your  heart  of  hearts  the  promise  whose  music  is 
louder  than  the  storm  at  its  wildest — “Lo!  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  ” — 
then  you  can  do  everything:  you  can  subdue  king¬ 
doms,  you  can  stop  the  mouths  of  lions,  you  can 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


5 


quench  the  violence  of  fire,  you  can  turn  to  flight 
the  armies  of  the  aliens,  you  can  confront  an  em¬ 
battled  -world,  you  can  dare,  if  need  be,  the  fiercest 
demons  of  the  pit  and  of  the  flame. 

— Mildmay  Missionary  Conference. 


Christ  Crucified,  the  Sufficient  Message. 

By  Rev.  G.  PATTERSON,  D.D. 

The  great  means  which  the  apostle  employed  was 
the  preaching  of  Christ  crucified.  We  have  some  of 
his  discourses,  and  we  have  declarations  as  to  the 
matter  and  manner  of  his  preaching,  but  all  show 
that  his  great  theme  was  salvation  through  the 
sufferings  unto  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  “We 
preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling- 
block,  and  unto  the  Greeks  foolishness;  but  unto 
them  which  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ 
the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God”  (1 
Cor.  22-24).  If  he  ever  tried  a  discussion  of  a 
different  kind,  it  was  when,  contending  with  the 
philosophers  of  Athens,  he  delivered  his  magnificent 
discourse  on  Mars  Hill,  in  which  he  treats  of  some  of 
the  high  themes  which  have  engaged  the  thoughts 
of  men ;  but  nowhere  that  we  read  of  did  his  labors 
prove  of  so  little  avail.  And  it  does  seem  significant 
that  immediately  after,  when  coming  to  Corinth, 
depressed  in  spirit,  he  determined  to  know  nothing 
among  her  licentious  crowds,  or  before  her  philoso¬ 
phers  and  rhetoricians,  but  Christ,  and  Him  crucified, 
the  result  was  the  gathering  of  much  people  to  tlie 
Lord.  So  the  missionary  now  must  go  to  the 


6 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


heathen,  not  to  civilize  the  savage  or  to  discuss  phi¬ 
losophy  with  the  cultured,  but  to  preach  salvation  to 
sinners  through  the  great  Atonement;  and  the  mes¬ 
sage  is  found,  as  in  the  apostle’s  day,  “  the  power  of 
God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.” 

— “  The  Heathen  World;  Its  Need  of  the  Gospel f  etc. 


Christ’s  Love,  the  Sufficient  Motive. 

By  Rev.  jyr.  HERDMAN. 

We  want  a  motive-power  sufficient  to  impel  dis¬ 
ciples  alway  with  uniform  force,  which  will  survive 
romance,  which  will  outlive  excitement,  which  burns 
steadily  in  the  absence  of  outward  encouragement 
and  glows  in  a  blast  of  persecution ;  such  a  motive  as, 
in  its  intense  and  imperishable  influence  on  the  con¬ 
science  and  heart  of  a  Christian,  shall  be  irrespective 
at  once  of  his  past  history,  of  any  peculiarities  in  his 
position,  and  of  his  interpretation  of  prophecy. 

W e  have  it ;  we  have  it  in  the  clear  law  of  Christ 
and  His  constant  love. 

— Mildmay  Missionary  Conference. 


Christ’s  Words,  the  Sufficient  Foundation. 

By  Rev.  JOSEPH  COOK,  D.  D. 

Precisely  these  four  alls  are  the  corner-stones  of 
the  historic  Church  of  Christ.  I  venture  to  affirm 
that  the  sublimest  and  the  most  effective  words  known 
to*  human  history  are  those  in  which  these  four 
colossal  alls  were  proclaimed  as  the  foundation  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  one  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost  in  the  Christian  Church.  Where,  in  the  whole 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


7 


range  of  recorded  thought,  have  you  anything 
possessing  such  scope  and  sublimity  as  these  com¬ 
mands  ? — 

“J.ZZ  power  is  given  unto  Me,  in  heaven  and  on 
earth. 

“  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,  baptising  them  into  the  one  name  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

“Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you. 

“And,  lo!  I  am  with  you  at  all  times,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.” — Matt,  xxviii.  18-20. 

So  closes  the  first  Gospel,  and  well  it  may  close 
here,  for  the  seventh  heaven  has  been  reached  in  the 
height  of  outlook: 

All  power. 

All  nations. 

All  commands. 

All  times. 

These  four  alls  of  Christ,  from  His  supreme 
commission  to  His  disciples,  are  the  four  corner¬ 
stones  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

— From  the  Boston  Lecture  delivered  March  22nd,  1886. 


Truths  Essential  to  Missionary  Success. 

By  Rev.  JOSEPH  COOK,  D.D. 

The  strength  of  Missions  has  been  found,  by 
prolonged  and  most  varied  experience,  to  consist  of 
these  three  things :  The  belief  in  the  necessity  of  the 
New  Birth,  the  belief  in  the  necessity  of  the  Atone¬ 
ment,  the  belief  in  the  necessity  of  Bepentance  in 
this  life. 


8 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


“No  Other  Name/’ 

By  Professor  STOWE LL. 

We  know  of  no  salvation  for  ourselves  but  that 
which  is  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  only 
by  virtue  of  the  universal  aspect  of  this  Gospel  that 
we  are  guided  to  any  personal  hope  of  forgiveness, 
and  meetness  for  a  happier  futurity.  What  we  were 
without  the  Gospel,  that  the  heathen  are  now.  What 
we  are  now  by  means  of  the  Gospel,  that  the  heathen 
may  become,  will  become,  when  the  Gospel  is 
preached  to  them  as  it  has  been  to  us.  Whosoever'- 
helieveth  in  CJu'ist  shall  not  perish. 

— From  “A  Missicniary  Church.'^'’ 


Agreements  of  Evangelists  in  all  Ages. 

By  Rev.  JOSEPH  COOK,  D.D. 

What  are  the  agreements  of  the  most  effective  evangelists  of  all 
Christian  ages? 

W e  know  what  the  disagreements  are.  Here  are 
Calvinists,  and  there  Arminians;  here  a  John,  there 
a  Paul;  here  a  Peter,  there  a  James.  We  have  now 
a  Melancthon,  now  a  Luther;  now  a  man  poorly 
educated,  except  fi’om  on  high ;  now  a  man  equipped 
in  the  learning  of  the  schools.  God  has,  to  all  these 
varied  agents,  given  spiritual  efficiency.  There  is  a 
unity  in  this  variety,  and  it  is  from  the  unity  that 
the  efficiency  proceeds.  Dismissing  all  consider¬ 
ation  of  the  dissimilarities,  concentrate  your  thoughts 
on  the  agreements  of  those  who  have  been  most 
honored  by  their  spiritual  fruits  in  the  religious 
awakenings  of  all  ages. 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


9 


If  time  permitted,  it  would  be  useful  to  support 
each  position  by  a  large  enumeration  of  biographical 
details;  but  here  and  now  I  can  only  give  outlines 
and  ask  you  to  meditate  upon  each  specification  until 
it  enlarges  to  a  chapter: — 

1.  The  most  effective  evangelists  in  all  ages 
agree  in  being  filled  with  one  and  the  same  divine 
fire. 

2.  They  agree  in  having  obtained  this  fire  by  the 
two  greatest  means  of  grace — attention  to  religious 
truth  and  self-surrender  to  it. 

3.  They  agree  in  the  use  of  these  two  means  as 
instrumentalities  for  the  renovation  of  indmduals, 
nations,  and  ages. 

4.  They  agree  in  loyalty  to  all  the  facts  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  and  not  merely  to  a  fragment  of  it;  and  espe¬ 
cially  in  mental  hospitality  for  awakening  and  severe 
truth,  as  well  as  for  the  opposite. 

5.  They  agree  in  teaching  with  the  power  of  vital 
and  vivid  convictions  the  necessity  of  the  New  Birth. 

6.  They  agree  in  teaching  with  vital  and  vivid 
convictions  the  necessity  of  the  Atonement. 

7.  They  agree  in  teaching  with  vital  and  vivid 
convictions  the  necessity  of  Bepentance  in  this  life. 

8.  They  agree  in  standards  as  to  the  conditions  of 
salvation. 

9.  They  agree  in  being  men  of  prayer,  under¬ 
stood  as  including  adoration,  confession,  thanksgiving, 
petition,  and  immediate  self-surrender  to  God. 

10.  They  agree  in  teaching  the  universal  neces¬ 
sity  and  efficacy  of  prayer  thus  understood. 


10 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


11.  They  agree  in  being  men  of  humility,  empty 
of  self  and  full  of  a  consciousness  of  God. 

12.  They  agree  in  being  men  of  great  boldness 
for  the  truth,  and  instant,  in  season  and  out  of  sea¬ 
son,  to  reprove  and  rebuke  iniquity  with  all  authority. 

13.  They  agree  in  preaching  largely  from  their 
own  religious  experience. 

14.  They  agree  in  making  large  use  of  special 
measures  to  bring  men  to  an  immediate  decision  to 
accept  God  as  both  Saviour  and  Lord. 

15.  They  agree  in  varying  these  measures  as  the 
Divine  Spirit  seems  to  suggest,  and  in  not  depend¬ 
ing  on  them,  but  on  God  alone,  as  revealed  in  Christ, 
the  Truth,  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

16.  They  agree  in  David’s  prayer:  “Create  in 
me  a  clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
Avithin  me.  Restore  unto  me  the  joys  of  Thy  sah^a- 
tion,  and  uphold  me  with  Thy  free  Spirit.  Then  will 
I  teach  transgressors  Thy  ways,  and  sinners  shall  be 
converted  unto  Thee.”— Pscdm  li. 


A  Few  Examples  of  Personal  Service. 

Rea^  Samuel  Dyer. 

‘‘^If  1  thought  anything  could  prevent  my  dying  for  China,  the 
thought  ivould  crush  wje.” 

Do  you  ask  me  what  I  think  of  China,  looking 
at  it  from  the  gates  of  the  grave  ?  Oh,  my  heart 
is  big  to  the  overfloAv:  it  SAvells,  and  enlarges,  and 

expands,  and  is  nigh  unto  bursting : 

Oh,  China,  when  I  think  of  thee, 

I  wish  for  pinions  of  a  dove. 

And  sigh  to  be  so  far  away. 

So  distant  from  the  land  I  love! 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


11 


If  I  thought  anything  .could  prevent  my  dying 
for  China,  the  thought  would  crush  me.  Our  only 
wish  is  to  live  for  China,  and  to  die  in  pointing  the 
Chinese 

To  His  redeeming  blood,  and  say, 

Behold  the  vs  ay  to  God  I 

— From  “  Life  of  Rev.  Samuel  Dyer.'^ 

Kev.  John  Hunt. 

“O/i,  let  me  pray  once  more  for  Fiji!'' 

When  those  who  had  just  united  in  committing 
their  great,  crushing  care  to  Him  who  cared  for  them, 
stood  looking  at  the  dying  man,  they  marked  how 
he  kept  on  silently  weeping.  In  a  little  while  his 
emotion  increased,  and  he  sobbed  as  though  in  acute 
distress.  Then,  when  the  pent-up  feeling  could  no 
longer  be  suppressed,  he  cried  out,  “Lord,  bless  Fiji! 
save  Fiji!  Thou  knowest  my  soul  has  loved  Fiji: 
my  heart  has  travailed  in  pain  for  Fiji!” 

It  was  no  sorrow  on  his  own  account  that  made  the 
Christian  weep.  His  own  prospect  was  all  unclouded 
brightness,  and  he  had  safely  stored  his  last  treasures 
— his  wife  and  children — in  heaven.  They  were  in 
God’s  keeping.  But  there  was  something  that  clung 
about  his  heart  more  closely  than  these.  That  object 
to  which  all  the  energies  of  his  great  soul  had  been 
devoted  was  the  last  to  be  left.  He  had  lived  for 
Fiji,  and  his  every  thought,  and  desire,  and  purpose, 
and  plan,  and  effort,  had  long  gone  in  this  one  direc¬ 
tion — the  conversion  of  Fiji.  For  some  weeks  he  had 
been  laid  by  from  his  work,  his  voice  hushed,  and 
his  hand  powerless.  Yet  he  had  never  ceased  to 
pray  for  the  people  of  the  islands ;  but  now  his  prayers 


12 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


also  were  to  cease.  Never  till  then  did  he  feel  how 
Fiji  had  become  identified  with  his  very  life.  And, 
in  his  utter  feebleness,  the  spirit  within  him  strove 
and  struggled  with  its  great  burden.  Those  who 
stood  by  feared  to  see  the  weak  frame  so  tossed 
about,  and  tried  to  soothe  him.  Mr.  Calvert  said, 
“The  Lord  knows  you  love  Fiji.  We  know  it;  the 
Fijian  Christians  know  it;  and  the  heathen  of  Fiji 
know  it.  You  have  labored  hard  for  Fiji  when  you 
were  strong ;  now  you  are  so  weak  you  must  be  silent. 
God  will  save  Fiji.  He  is  saving  Fiji.” 

At  this  the  dying  missionary  was  calmer  for  a 
little  while,  but  still  he  wept.  The  burden  was  there 
yet;  and  his  spirit,  strengthened  with  the  powers  of 
an  endless  life,  shook  the  failing  flesh  as  it  rose  up 
and  cast  the  great  load  down  at  the  cross.  He 
grasped  Mr.  Calvert  with  one  hand,  and  lifting  the 
other — mighty  in  its  trembling — he  cried  aloud, 
“Oh,  let  me  pray  once  more  for  Fiji!  Lord,  for 
Christ’s  sake,  bless  Fiji!  Save  Fiji!  Save  Thy 
servants,  save  Thy  people,  save  the  heathen  in 
Fiji!”  After  this  he  gradually  quieted  down,  and 
his  peace  was  unbroken. 

— From  Life  of  Rev.  John  Hunt.*’ 

Dr.  Livingstone. 

“iH?/  Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my  All, 

1  again  dedicate  my  whole  self  to  Thee.” 

“  Nothing  earthly  will  make  me  give  up  my  work 
in  despair.  I  encourage  myself  in  the  Lord  my  God, 
and  go  forward.”  He  pursued  his  investigations; 
but  at  length  the  strong  man  was  utterly  broken 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


13 


down.  They  had  reached  Ilala ;  and  as  he  could  go 
no  further,  his  followers  built  a  hut,  and  laid  him 
beneath  its  shade.  The  next  day  he  lay  quiet,  and 
asked  a  few  questions.  On  the  following  morning 
(4th  May,  1873),  when  his  boys  looked  in  at  dawn, 
his  candle  was  still  burning;  and  Livingstone  was 
kneeling  by  the  bed,  with  his  face  buried  in  his  hands 
upon  the  pillow.  He  was  dead!  and  he  had  died 
upon  his  knees,  praying,  no  doubt,  as  was  his  wont, 
for  all  he  loved,  and  fur  that  dear  land  to  which  he 
had  devoted  three  and  thirty  years  of  his  laborious 
life! 

There  is  a  touching  entry  in  his  journal,  written 
upon  the  last  birthday  but  one  of  his  eventful  life, 
and  it  reveals  at  once  the  motive  and  the  earnestness 
of  his  whole  career:  “My  Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life, 
my  All,  I  again  dedicate  my  whole  self  to  Thee.” 

— Modern  Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field. 

A  Tamil  Chkistian. 

‘‘Met  me  go;  give  me  a  guide,  I  must  go." 

From  an  Address  by  Major-General  F.  T.  HAIG,  R.  E. 

There  are  noble  men  among  those  native  Chris¬ 
tians.  Some  three  or  four  years  ago  I  was  at  a  little 
mission  with  which  I  was  connected,*  eight  hundred 
or  nine  hundred  miles  from  Tinnevelly,  and  I  was 
very  anxious  that  a  new  station  should  be  formed.  I 
was  aware  that  it  was  of  no  use  writing  home  for 
men,  and  I  thought  to  myself,  “Why  should  not  the 
Tinnevelly  Church  send  us  men?”  I  wrote  to  Bishop 
Sargent,  and  he  laid  it  before  the  Native  Church 


*Dummagudem,  Koi  Mission,  River  Godavery. 


14 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


Council,  for  the  churches  there  are  self-governed, 
and  have  their  councils  and  committees.  The  Council 
replied,  “We  will  send  you  two  men;  and  what  is 
more,  we  will  pay  them.”  They  did  so.  One  man 
died  soon  after  he  arrived ;  the  other  was  left  without 
a  companion,  in  the  midst  of  lonely  jungles,  eighty 
miles  from  the  nearest  mission  station.  He  wrote 
to  Tinnevelly  to  have  some  one  sent  to  him,  but  the 
country  in  his  neighborhood  was  very  unhealthy, 
and,  at  first,  no  one  would  go.  At  last  an  old  man 
sixty  years  of  age  said,  “If  nobody  else  will  go,  I 
will  go.  ”  And  though  this  old  man  had  never  been 
outside  of  his  own  little  village,  he  at  once  prepared 
to  set  out  on  a  journey  of  nearly  a  month.  He 
reached  the  headquarters,  and  then  found  that  in  his 
hurry  he  had  left  his  little  box  of  clothes  behind  him 
on  the  coast.  They  tried  to  persuade  him  to  wait 
until  his  box  came,  but  he  said,  “Let  me  go;  give  me 
a  guide,  I  must  go,  ”  and  at  once  set  oT  through  the 
jungles  to  join  his  brother.  Some  months  afterwards, 
when  a  missionary  went  up  that  way,  the  people  of 
the  district  said,  “Who  is  that  strange  old  man,  who, 
whenever  he  comes,  has  only  two  words  to  speak 
to  us  in  our  language?”  The  old  man  was  a 
perfect  stranger  to  the  place,  and,  being  a  Tamil 
man,  he  did  not  know  their  language;  but  he  had 
learnt  the  words,  “Believe  in  Jesus,”  and  he  said 
them  on  every  possible  occasion.  He  spent  about  a 
year  there,  but  at  last  got  very  ill,  and  had  to  be 
sent  back  to  his  native  place,  which  he  had  hardly 
reached  ere  he  died.  I  say  that  old  man  laid  down 
his  life  for  Christ,  and  for  the  Kois.  I  often  wish  I 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


15 


could  put  up  a  tombstone,  or  some  memorial  to  him, 
in  that  wild  country,  and  just  write  upon  it,  for  the 
people  to  read,  these  words:  “  He  laid  down  his  life 
for  us.  ” 


Missionary  Prayer-Meetings. 

By  Rev.  WM.  STF.IX 

They  should  be  increased  tenfold.  If  a  right 
spirit  pervade  the  frequenters  of  them,  I  would 
augur  great  thiugs  to  the  cause.  But  I  think  one 
great  purpose  of  such  meetings  is,  by  many,  almost 
wholly  overlooked.  They  pray  for  missionaries. 
They  pray  for  the  heathen.  They  pray  for  the  influ¬ 
ences  of  the  Spii'it  to  descend  upon  the  teachers  and 
the  taught.  They  pray  for  success  to  the  work  at 
large — and,  so  far,  Avell.  But  they  forget  to  pray  that 
they  themselves  may  be  enabled  to  know  and  to  do 
their  duty  in  helping  the  work.  A  man  fallen  into  a 
pit,  and  another  at  the  pit’s  mouth  praying  to 
God  to  help  him  out,  is  a  flt  emblem  of  a  prayer¬ 
meeting  where  the  members  never  think  of  their 
having  anything  more  to  do  in  the  work.  If  the 
perishing  man  overheard  such  a  petitioner  offering 
up  his  prayers,  and  then  going  away  about  his  own 
business,  he  would  surely  question  his  sincerity.  But 
if  he  heard  the  man  praying  for  courage  to  descend 
into  the  pit,  or  for  wisdom  and  zeal  to  find  out  and 
employ  proper  means  for  his  deliverance,  he  Avould 
conclude  he  was  in  earnest,  and  believe  that  such  a 
prayer  would  undoubtedly  be  heard  and  answered. 
I  should  like,  therefore,  to  hear  the  members  of 


16 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


missionary  prayer-meetings  making  this  a  prominent 
part  of  their  supplications,  that  they  themselves  and 
others  also,  may  be  stirred  up  to  devise,  and  act,  and 
suffer  what  they  ought,  that  the  heathen  may  be 
brought  out  of  darkness  into  the  marvelous  light  of 
the  Gospel. 

— Letters  on  Missions. 


“That  Glorious  Work  for  which  Christ  Died.” 

Testimonu  of  Rev.  Dr.  MOFFAT. 

Oh!  how  much  there  is  to  be  done  in  this  wdde, 
wide  world!  and  what  a  regret  it  is  that  there  are  so 
many  spending  their  strength  and  their  talents  for 
nought!  I  remember  what  my  feelings  were  when  a 
young  man,  and  I  remember,  too,  when  I  was  waver¬ 
ing  between  one  object  and  another;  and  I  look  back 
with  trembling,  and  think  that  had  I  chosen  what  I 
was  sometimes  inclined  to  do,  I  should  never  have 
been  a  missionary.  Providentially — I  thank  God  for 
it,  and  will  thank  Him  as  long  as  I  live- — I  had  a 
pious  mother;  I  had  a  mother  with  a  missionary 
spirit;  and  it  was  the  stories  that  I  heard  from  her 
lips,  when  a  little  boy  at  her  knees,  that  afterwards 
revived  in  my  mind,  and  turned  my  attention  to  be  a 
missionary  to  the  perishing  heathen. 

Think  w’hat  is  life  if  not  carried  out  in  the  service 
of  God.  What  is  life,  my  dear  friends?  I  have 
been  engaged  these  fifty-seven  years  as  a  missionary ; 
I  have  been  exposed  to  dangers,  I  may  say  to  deaths ; 
I  have  had  narrow  escapes — escapes  I  had  like  Job’s, 
sometimes  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth,  but  it  was  a 
glorious  work ;  it  was  doing  the  work  of  God ;  it  was 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


17 


doing  the  will  of  God;  and-  had  I  perished  beneath 
it,  I  should  have  lost  nothing  and  gained  everything! 
Is  there  anything,  my  dear  friends,  beneath  the  sun 
of  such  importance  compared  with  that  mission  for 
which  the  Lord  of  glory  descended  into  this  world! 
Oh!  when  we  think  of  the  boundless  majesty  of  that 
God  who  reigns  supreme;  that  glorious  Being,  who 
“weighs  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a 
balance;”  when  we  think  that  He  looks  down  on  this 
world  and  has  given  each  his  work  to  do;  when  we 
think  of  Him  who  could  annihilate  the  world  in  a 
moment,  condescending  to  look  to  you  and  to  me  to  help 
Him  carry  on  that  glorious  work  for  which  Christ 
died  on  the  cross, — oh,  my  friends,  let  us  remember 
the  words  of  the  wise  man,  “Whatsoever  thy  hand 
findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might;  for  there  is  no 
work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the 
grave,”  whither  we  are  all  hastening.  A  short  time 
and  we  shall  be  no  more !  This  is  the  time  when  we 
can  work!  This  is  the  time  when  we  can  help  our¬ 
selves,  and  help  others,  and  glorify  God.  This  time  is 
passing  fast  away.  Oh !  do  it — whatever  requires  to 
be  done  for  your  own  salvation  and  for  the  salvation 
of  your  fellow  men,  do  it,  do  it  noiv! 

I  have  labored  in  Africa  for  fifty-three  or  fifty - 
four  years,  and  oh,  I  would  willingly  go  back.  I 
have  toiled  there  at  work  by  day  and  by  night,  under 
a  vertical  sun ;  I  have  there  been  exposed  to  hunger 
and  thirst;  I  have  often  had  to  put  on  what  I  call 
the  fasting  girdle,  but  I  never  complained.  I  never 
felt  a  murmur.  I  knew  that  the  work  in  which  I  was 
engaged  was  the  work  to  which  God  in  His  merciful 


18 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


providence  had  appointed  me,  and  I  knew  that  if  I 
labored  and  did  not  faint  I  should  surely  reap! 


“The  Church  of  God  can  Do  So  If,  If — ” 

By  Rev.  E.  K.  ALDEN,  D.D. 

Are  we  wild  in  the  supposition  that  there  may 
be  a  possible  rapidity  with  which  the  Word  of  Life 
shall  be  carried  through  the  world  which  shall  be 
far  beyond  what  we  have  yet  achieved?  May  we 
not  “attempt  for  God,”  may  we  not  “expect  from 
God,”  not  only  the  “great  things”  of  which  we  often 
make  mention,  but  the  “greater  works”  of  the  twelfth 
verse  of  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John?.  . .  . 

In  the  “  fervid  and  earnest  appeal  ”  sent  forth  to 
the  Christian  world  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
Protestant  missionaries  in  China,  representatives  of 
twenty-one  societies  assembled  in  conference  a  few 
months  ago,  the  question  is  asked,  “Ought  we  not  to 
make  an  effort  to  save  China  in  this  generation 
And  the  answer  is  returned  “  The  Church  of  God  can 
do  it,  if  she  be  only  faithful  to  her  great  commis¬ 
sion.  ”  And  then  follows  the  stirring  call,  “When 
will  young  men  press  into  the  mission  field  as  they 
struggle  for  positions  of  worldly  honor  and  affluence  ? 
When  will  parents  consecrate  their  sons  and  daugh¬ 
ters  to  missionary  work  as  they  search  for  rare 
openings  of  worldly  influence  and  honor?  When 
will  Christians  give  for  missions  as  they  give  for 
luxury  and  amusements?  When  will  they  learn  to 
deny  themselves  for  the  work  of  God  as  they  deny 
themselves  for  such  earthly  objects  as  are  dear  to 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


19 


their  hearts?  Or  rather,  when  will  they  count  it  no 
self-denial,  but  the  highest  joy  and  privilege,  to  give 
with  the  utmost  liberality  for  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen?”  .  . .  .May  this  spirit  be 
communicated  from  heart  to  heart,  from  church  to 
church,  from  continent  to  continent,  until  the  whole 
Christian  world  shall  be  aroused,  and  every  soldier 
of  the  Cross  shall  come  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty! 

— From  ^^Shall  we  have  a  Missionary  Revival?'" 


“Not  the  Meanest,  But  the  Mightiest.” 

By  Rev.  J.  C.  VAUGHAN,  D.D. 

The  Church  at  home  must  learn  to  give  up  with¬ 
out  a  murmur  to  foreign  service,  not  her  meanest,  but 
her  mightiest.  She  must  never  speak  of  any  man  as 
too  learned,  or  too  eloquent,  or  too  useful,  or  (in  any 
sense)  too  good  to  be  sent  abroad.  On  the  contrary, 
she  must  impress  early  upon  the  hearts  of  her 
children,  of  those  who  are  to  be  hereafter  her  chief est 
and  her  foremost  ones,  the  dignity,  the  honor,  the 
sanctity,  of  that  most  responsible  trust,  of  that  indeed 
highest  “preferment.”  She  must  take  pains  to  incul¬ 
cate  from  the  professors’  chairs  and  from  the 
preachers’  pulpits  of  her  universities,  the  true  idea, 
the  just  estimate,  of  her  work  among  her  own 
colonists,  and  of  her  work  among  the  heathen  popu-  • 
lations  around  or  beyond  them.  She  must  expand 
the  very  notion  of  the  Church  into  a  co- extensiveness 
with  the  earth.  “The  field”,  even  of  the  Church  of 
one  country,  “is  the  world.” 


— ^'‘Forget  Thine  Own  People." 


20 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


The  Age  of  Opportunity. 

By  Rev.  WM.  ARTHUR,  M.  A. 

To  Christianity  this  is  pre-eminently  the  age  of 
opportunity.  Never  before  did  the  world  offer  to  her 
anything  like  the  same  open  field  as  at  this  moment. 
Even  a  single  century  from  the  present  time,  how 
much  more  limited  was  her  access  to  the  minds  of 
men!  Within  our  own  favored  country,  a  zealous 
preacher  w^ould  then  have  been  driven  away  from 
many  a  sphere  where  now  he  would  be  hailed.  On 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  the  whole  of  France  has 
been  opened  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  though 
under  some  restraints.  In  Belgium,  Sardinia,  and 
other  fields,  it  may  now  be  said  that  the  Word  of 
God  is  not  bound.  A  century  ago,  the  Chinese 
Empire,  the  Mohammedan  world,  and  Africa,  contain¬ 
ing  between  them  such  a  preponderating  majority  of 
the  human  race,  were  all  closed  against  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  China  is  opened  at  several  points.  The 
whole  empire  of  the  Mogul  is  one  field  where  oppor¬ 
tunity  and  protection  invite  the  evangelist.  Turkey 
itself  has  been  added  to  the  spheres  wherein  he  may 
labor.  Around  the  wild  shores  of  Africa,  and  far 
into  her  western,  eastern,  and  southern  interior,  out¬ 
posts  of  Christianity  have  been  established.  Wide 
realms  beyond  invite  her  onward.  In  the  South  Seas, 
several  regions,  which  a  hundred  years  ago  had  not 
been  made  known  by  the  voyages  of  Cook,  are  now 
regularly  occupied.  Could  the  churches  of  England 
and  America  send  forth  to-morrow  a  hundi’ed  thou¬ 
sand  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  each  one  of  them  might 
find  a  sphere,  already  opened  by  the  strong  hand  of 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


21 


Providence,  where  a  century  ago  none  of  them  could 
have  come  without  danger. 

— From  ‘‘‘‘The  Tongue  of  Fire.'’ 


The  Moral  Condition  of  India. 

By  Rev.  WM.  ARTHUR,  M.  .4. 

Oh,  that  God  would  give  to  His  Church  a  heart 
large  enough  to  feel  the  sublimity  of  this  call! 
Think,  Christians,  on  the  state  of  the  world.  Dream 
not  of  the  Gospel  as  already  known  everywhere. 
Feel,  oh  feel,  when  you  pray,  that  one-half  of  your 
brethren  never  heard  of  the  Pedeemer!  Bone  are 
they  of  your  bone,  flesh  of  your  flesh,  conflicting, 
sighing,  bending  to  the  grave,  like  you,  but  croAvn 
for  their  conflicts,  comforter  in  their  sighs,  hope  in 
their  grave,  they  see  none.  Think  of  every  land 
where  Satan  has  his  seat,  and  give  to  them  all  a  part 
in  your  prayer.  But  oh,  think  long  on  the  land 
where  the  throne  whose  sway  you  love  has  heathen 
subjects  outnumbering  sevenfold  the  Christians  of 
the  British  Isles!  Think  long,  long  on  the  fact,  “  I 
belong  to  an  empire  where  seven  to  one  name  not 
the  name  that  is  life  tome!”  Think  that  yonder, 
under  the  rule  of  your  own  Queen,  a  full  sixth  of 
Adam’s  children  dwell.  Take  a  little  leisure  and 
say,  “  Of  every  six  infants,  one  first  sees  the  light 
there.  To  what  instruction  is  it  born?  Of  every 
six  brides  one  offers  her  vows  there ;  to  what  affec¬ 
tion  is  she  destined?  Of  every  six  families  one 
spreads  its  table  there ;  what  love  unites  their  circle  ? 
Of  every  six  widows  one  is  lamenting  there ;  what 


22 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


consolations  will  soothe  her?  Of  every  six  orphan 
girls  one  is  wandering  there;  what  charities  will 
protect  her  ?  Of  every  six  wounded  consciences  one 
is  trembling  there;  what  balm,  what  physician  does 
it  know  ?  Of  every  six  men  that  die,  one  is  departing 
there;  what  shore  is  before  his  eyes?” 

— From  Mission  to  the  MysoreF 


“Men  of  Education.” 

By  Dr.  LIVINGSTONE. 

The  sort  of  men  who  are  wanted  for  missionaries 
are  such  as  I  see  before  me:  men  of  education, 
standing,  enterprise,  zeal,  and  piety.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  any  one,  so  long  as  he  is  pious,  will 
do  for  this  office.  Pioneers  in  everything  should  be 
the  ablest  and  best  qualified  men,  not  those  of  small 
ability  and  education.  This  remark  especially  applies 
to  the  first  teachers  of  Christian  truth  in  regions 
which  may  never  have  before  been  blessed  with  the 
name  and  Gospel  of  J esus  Christ.  In  the  early  ages 
the  monasteries  were  the  schools  of  Europe,  and  the 
monks  w^ere  not  ashamed  to  hold  the  plough.  The 
missionaries  now  take  the  place  of  those  noble  men, 
and  we  should  not  hesitate  to  give  up  the  small 
luxuries  of  life  in  order  to  carry  knowledge  and  truth 
to  them  that  are  in  darkness.  I  hope  that  many  of 
those  whom  I  now  address  will  embrace  that  honor¬ 
able  career.  Education  has  been  given  us  from  above 
for  the  pui'pose  of  bringing  to  the  benighted  the 
knowledge  of  a  Saviour.  If  you  knew  the  satisfaction 
of  performing  such  a  duty,  as  well  as  the  gratitude 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


23 


to  God  which  the  missionary  must  always  feel,  in 
being  chosen  for  so  noble,  so  sacred  a  calling,  you 
would  have  no  hesitation  in  embracing  it. 

— From  Lecture  before  the  University  of  Cambridge. 


“Oh,  it  is  a  Glorious  Work!” 

Testimony  of  Rev.  GRIFFITH  JOHN. 

It  is  not  my  habit  to  say  anything  to  induce 
young  men  to  devote  themselves  to  this  work,  for  I 
have  a  wholesome  dread  of  man-inspired  missionaries. 
But  I  cannot  allow  this  opportunity  to  pass  without 
telling  you  young  men  who  are  preparing  for  the 
ministry  that  I  thank  God  most  sincerely  and 
devoutly  that  I  am  a  missionary.  I  have  never 
regretted  the  step  I  took  many  years  ago,  in  opposi¬ 
tion  to  the  strongly  expressed  wish  of  my  best  friends ; 
and  if  there  is  a  sincere  desire  burning  within  my 
breast,  it  is  that  I  may  live  and  die  in  laboring  and 
suffering  for  Christ  among  the  heathmi.  Oh,  it  is  a 
glorious  work!  I  know  no  work  like  it — so  real,  so 
unselfish,  so  apostolic,  so  Christ-like.  I  know  no 
work  that  brings  Christ  so  near  to  the  soul,  that 
throws  a  man  back  so  completely  upon  God,  and  that 
makes  the  grand  old  Gospel  appear  so  real,  so 
precious,  so  divine.  And  then,  think  of  the  grandeur 
of  our  aim.  Our  cry  is,  China  for  Christ!  India 
for  Christ!  The  world  for  Christ!  Think  of  China 
and  her  hundreds  of  millions  becoming  our  Lord’s 
and  His  Christ’s!  Is  there  nothing  grand  in  that 
idea  ?  Is  there  nothing  soul-stirring  in  the  prospect  ? 
Is  that  not  an  achievement  worthy  of  the  best  efforts 


24 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


of  the  Church,  and  of  the  noblest  powers  of  the  most 
richly-endowed  among  you?  And  then  think  of  the 
s  unspeakable  privilege  and  honor  of  having  a  share  in 
a  work  which  is  destined  to  have  such  a  glorious 
issue.  Oh,  young  men,  think  of  it;  dwell  upon  it; 
and  if  you  hear  the  voice  of  God  bid  you  go,  man¬ 
fully  take  up  your  cross  and  go,  and  you  will  never 
cease  to  thank  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  for  counting 
you  worthy  to  be  missionaries. 

— /h  “  Hope  for  ChinaF 


The  Work  an  Archangel  May  Envy. 

By  Rev.  G.  S.  BARRETT. 

I  see  numbers  of  young  men  present  here  to-day. 
Many  of  you  are  hoping  to  become  heads  of  large 
business  establishments  in  this  city;  many  of  you,  I 
daresay,  have  the  ambition  to  take  your  share  in  the 
great  political  agitations  of  the  state.  It  is  an  hon¬ 
orable  ambition,  but  a  nobler  ambition  is  before  you. 
The  love  of  Christ  may  constrain  you,  and,  filled  with 
the  grandeur  and  glory  of  Christ’s  kingdom — that 
kingdom  which  shall  have  no  end — you  may  to-day, 
on  your  knees,  say  to  Him,  “Lord,  Thou  hast  said 
the  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are 
few ;  Lord,  wilt  Thou  take  me  as  one  of  the  laborers 
for  Thy  harvest?”  It  may  require  sacrifices,  but  you 
will  not  speak  of  sacrifice  to  Christ  in  the  presence 
of  His  Cross.  Men  may  sneer  at  you  or  blame  you; 
even  your  friends  may  question  your  motives;  but 
that  will  not  move  you.  You  have  given  up  your  life 
to  the  noblest  of  all  works — the  work  that  arch- 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


25 


angels  who  surround  the  Throne  of  God  may  well 
envy — the  work  of  preaching  Christ  to  the  heathen. 
That  is  enough.  And  often  and  often,  when  you  go 
to  your  work  in  the  far-distant  land,  amidst  days  of 
loneliness  and  toil,  away  from  all  the  English  love 
and  English  home  which  now  surrounds  you,  Christ 
will  come,  and,  oh!  He  will  come  with  that  look  and 
smile  which  means,  “Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant.”  Talk  of  sacrifice  with  Christ’s  look  thus 
upon  you!  You  will  say — 

“Happy  if  with  my  latest  breath 
I  may  but  gasp  His  name; 

Preach  Him  to  all,  and  cry  in  death, 

Behold,  behold,  the  Lamb.” 


The  Companionship  Essential  in  Missionary 

Service. 

By  Bishop  SELWYN. 

Words  of  love  and  tenderness  spoken  at  the  Consecration  of  the  Rev.  John 
Coleridge  Patteson  as  Bishop  of  Melanesia. 

May  every  step  of  thy  life,  dear  brother,  be  in 
company  with  the  Lord  Jesus. 

May  Christ  be  with  thee,  as  a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles;  may  He  work  out  in  thee.  His  spiritual 
miracles;  may  He,  through  thee,  give  sight  to  the 
blind,  to  see  the  glories  of  the  God  invisible;  and 
open  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  to  hear  and  receive  the 
preaching  of  His  Word;  and  loose  the  tongues  of 
the  dumb,  to  sing  His  praise;  and  raise  to  new  life 
the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins. 

May  Christ  be  with  you,  when  you  go  forth  in 
His  name  and  for  His  sake  to  those  poor  and  needy 


26 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


people;  to  those  “strangers  destitute  of  help,”  to 
those  mingled  races  who  still  show  forth  the  curse  of 
Babel,  and  wait  for  the  coming  of  another  Pentecost. 

May  Christ  be  ever  with  you;  may  you  feel  His 
j^resence  in  the  lonely  wilderness,  on  the  mountain 
top,  on  the  troubled  sea.  May  He  go  before  you, 
with  His  fan  in  His  hand,  to  purge  His  floor.  He 
will  not  stay  His  hand  until  the  idols  are  utterly 
abolished. 

May  Christ  be  ever  with  thee  to  give  thee  utter¬ 
ance,  to  open  thy  mouth  boldly  to  make  kno’vvn  the 
mystery  of  the  Gospel,  Dwelling  in  the  midst  of  a 
people  of  unclean  lips,  thou  wilt  feel  Him  present 
with  thee,  to  touch  thy  lips  with  a  live  coal  from  His 
own  altar,  that  many  strangers  of  every  race  may 
hear  in  their  own  tongue  the  wonderful  work  of  God. 

May  Christ  be  ever  wdth  you;  may  you  sorrow 
with  Him  in  His  agony,  and  be  crucified  with  Him 
in  His  death,  be  buried  wdth  Him  in  His  grave,  rise 
with  Him  to  newness  of  life,  and  ascend  with  Him 
in  heart  to  the  same  place  whither  He  has  gone 
before,  and  feel  that  He  ever  liveth  to  make  inter¬ 
cession  for  thee,  “that  thy  faith  fail  not.” 


Honor  of  Parents  whose  Sons  and  Daughters 
are  Called  to  be  Missionaries. 

By  Rev.  Dr.  WARDLAW. 

Our  blessed  Master,  when  His  heart  was  melted 
to  tender  pity  by  a  survey  of  the  multitudes  whom  he 
saw  “  fainting  and  scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  having 
210  shepherd,”  said  to  His  disciples:  “The  harvest 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


27 


truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few;  pray 
ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He  would 
send  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest.”  Do  we,  my 
Christian  friends,  obey  the  gracious  mandate?  Is  it 
our  prayer  that  He  may  provide  suitable  laborers, 
that  He  may  impart  the  qualifications,  that  He  may 
inspire  the  disposition  and  desire  for  the  work  ?  Do 
we  leave  Him  to  select  His  instruments,  according  to 
His  pleasure,  as  His  own  wisdom  and  grace  may 
direct?  And  shall  we  then  shrink  or  murmur  if,  in 
answering  our  prayer  and  in  making  the  selection. 
He  should  be  pleased  to  come  within  the  limit  of  our 
own  domestic  circle?  Shall  we  venture  to  restrict 
Him,  and  to  say:  “Take  whom  Thou  wilt,  but  take 
not  mine?”  No,  blessed  Eedeemer.  Far  from  everv 
Christian  parent’s  heart  be  such  a  thought!  Oh,  let 
us  rather  esteem  it  a  favor  conferred  on  us  and  ours, 
when  Thou  art  thus  pleased  to  employ  any  of  them 
in  a  work  so  full  of  honor. 


The  Book. 

By  Mr.  JOHN  RUSKIN. 

How  much  I  owe  to  my  mother  for  having  so 
exercised  me  in  the  Scriptures  as  to  make  me  grasp 
them  in  what  my  correspondent  would  call  their 
“concrete  whole”  :  and,  above  all,  taught  me  to 
reverence  them  as  transcending  all  thought,  and 
ordaining  all  conduct.  This  she  effected,  not  by  her 
own  sayings  or  personal  authority,  but  simply  by 
compelling  me  to  read  the  book  thoroughly  for 
myself.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  read  with  fluency, 


28 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


she  began  a  course  of  Bible  work  with  me,  which 
never  ceased  till  I  went  to  Oxford.  She  read  alter¬ 
nate  verses  wdth  me,  watching  at  first  every  intona¬ 
tion  of  my  voice,  and  correcting  the  false  ones,  till 
she  made  me  understand  the  verse,  if  within  my 
reach,  rightly  and  energetically.  It  might  be 
beyond  me  altogether;  ihat  she  did  not  care  about; 
but  she  made  sure  that  as  soon  as  I  got  hold  of  it  at 
all,  I  should  get  hold  of  it  by  the  right  end.  In  this 
way  she  began  with  the  first  verse  of  Genesis,  and 
went  straight  through  to  the  last  verse  of  the 
Apocalypse;  hard  names,  Numbers,  Levitical  law,  and 
all ;  and  began  again  at  Genesis  next  day ;  if  a  name 
was  hard,  the  better  the  exercise  in  pronunciation 
— if  a  chapter  was  tiresome,  the  better  lesson  in 
patience — if  loathsome,  the  better  the  lesson  in  faith 
that  there  was  some  use  in  its  being  so  outspoken. 
After  our  chapters  (from  two  or  three  a  day,  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  length,  the  first  thing  after  breakfast, 
and  no  interruption  from  servants  allowed — none 
fi’om  visitors,  who  either  joined  in  the  reading  or  had 
to  stay  up  stairs — and  none  from  any  visitings  or 
excursions,  except  real  travelling),  I  had  to  learn  a 
few  verses  by  heart,  or  repeat,  to  make  sure  I  had  not 
lost,  something  of  what  was  already  known ;  and,  with 
the  chapters  above  enumerated,  I  had  to  learn  the 
whole  body  of  the  fine  old  Scottish  paraphrases, 
which  are  good,  melodious  and  forceful  verse ;  and  to 
which,  together  with  the  Bible  itself,  I  owe  the  first 
cultivation  of  my  ear  in  sound.  It  is  strange  that  of 
all  the  pieces  of  the  Bible  which  my  mother  thus 
taught  me,  that  which  cost  me  most  to  learn,  and 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


29 


which  was,  to  niy  child’s  mind,  chiefly  repulsive — 
the  119th  Psalm — has  now  become  of  all  the  most 
precious  to  me,  in  its  overflowing  and  glorious  passion 
of  love  for  the  law  of  God. 


The  Wail  of  Humanity  in  Asia. 

By  Rev.  JOSEPH  COOK,  D.D. 

As  I  coasted  along  Ceylon,  and  the  Malay  penin¬ 
sula,  and  vast  China,  day  after  day,  I  seemed  to  hear 
across  the  roar  of  the  waves  the  turbulent  sound  of 
the  billows  of  humanity  breaking  with  a  wail  on  the 
stern  coasts  of  our  yet  barbaric  days:  three  hundred 
million  billows  in  China,  half  of  them  women ;  two 
hundred  and  fifty  million  such  billows  breaking  on 
the  shores  of  India ;  multitudes  upon  multitudes 
coming  out  of  the  unseen,  and  storming  across  the 
ocean  of  time  to  break  on  the  shores  of  eternity. 
And  the  sound  of  that  sea  Avas  a  wail  from  servile 
labor,  the  dwarfing  of  the  loftiest  capabilities  of  the 
soul,  through  ignorance  and  false  faiths ;  infanticide, 
polygamy,  concubinage,  enforced  widoAvhood,  and 
many  a  nameless  condition  preventing  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  woman  into  that  angelic  thing  she  is  by 
nature,  even  without  education.  I  heard  the  wail  of 
these  hosts  until  I  found  myself  resolved,  whatever 
else  I  might  do  or  might  not  do,  to  echo  the  sound  of 
that  ocean  in  the  ears  of  Christendom,  until,  if  God 
should  permit,  some  adequate  enthusiasm  for  the 
reform  of  Avoman’s  condition  in  Asia  is  awakened  in 
the  Occident.  I  Avish  every  city  of  tAventy  thousand 


30  COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 

inhabitants  in  America  and  Europe  would  send  one 
female  missionary  into  pagan  lands. 

^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

We  have  power  to  send  medical  missionaries  to 
these  populations;  we  have  power  to  send  both 
secular  and  sacred  education  to  women  throughout 
Asia ;  and  he  who  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it 
not,  to  him  it  is  a  sin.  Let  this  wail  sound  in  the 
ears  of  sensitive  women.  Let  it  sound  in  the  ears 
of  strong  men.  Let  it  fill  the  whole  atmosphere  of 
Occidental  Christendom  until  we  are  aroused  to 
make  God’s  opinion  our  own  as  to  Avhat  should  be 
done  for  women  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  all  the  isles  of 
the  sea. 

— “TFonan’s  Work  for  Woman  in  AsiaF 


What  the  Bible  is  to  Me. 

By  the  Rev.  Dr.  TYNG. 

AVhen  I  go  to  that  book,  God  speaks  to  me.  I 
need  no  succession.  I  go  at  once  to  the  fountain¬ 
head.  It  is  not  man  that  speaks.  It  is  God  who 
speaks,  and  He  speaks  to  me  as  if  there  were  but  one 
single  Bible  on  the  earth,  and  that  Bible  an  angel  had 
come  down  and  bound  upon  my  bosom.  It  is  my 
Bible.  It  was  written  for  me.  It  is  the  voice  of  God 
holding  communion  with  my  own  soul,  and  never 
will  I  forfeit  my  right  to  commune  with  God. 

Nor  is  that  communion  to  be  held  before  councils, 
or  in  open  temples,  or  in  the  presence  of  sects  and  of 
priests,  and  through  the  intervention  of  others.  It 
is  an  act  to  be  transacted  in  the  most  secret  sanctu- 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


31 


aiy  of  the  Lord.  No  sects,  no  priestly  interference 
can  be  admitted.  It  is  an’  affair  between  God  and 
my  soul;  and  as  Abraham  bid  the  young  men  abide 
with  the  ass  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  so  will  I 
ascend  and  go  to  meet  God  alone  upon  the  top. 

That  book  is  the  book  of  God,  and  when  I  go  out 
and  commune  with  it  I  hold  communion  with  my  God. 
I  am  Moses,  just  come  down  from  the  burning 
mountain,  his  face  shining  with  joy  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord.  I  am  Isaiah,  and  have  come  from  the 
golden  courts  where  the  seraphim  and  cherubim 
shout  Hallelujah  to  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts.  I  am 
Paul,  and  have  seen  the  third  heavens  opened,  and 
can  tell  what  is  uttered  there,  and  have  seen  glories 
inefPable  which  no  tongue  can  tell  nor  imagination 
conceive.  I  am  John,  and  have  laid  my  head  upon 
the  Master’s  bosom,  and  have  caught,  warm  with  His 
breath,  the  very  whispers  of  the  sweet  counsel  which 
He  has  breathed  into  my  ear. 

It  is  not  from  any  intervention  or  interpretation 
of  man  that  it  derives  its  power.  God  gave  it  to  me. 
He  made  it,  and  He  has  preserved  it.  It  is  still 
bread  and  food  for  all  the  world. 

— From  a  Sjyeech  by  Dr.  Tyng,  reported  in  the  History  of  the 
American  Bible  Society. 


An  Illuminated  Bible. 

By  the  late  Rev.  JAMES  HAMILTON,  D.D. 

Suppose  that  each  man  were  to  mark  in  vermil¬ 
ion  the  verse  that  first  convinced  him  of  sin,  or  first 
made  him  anxious  for  the  saving  of  his  soul.  In  the 
Bible  of  the  Apostle  Paul  the  tenth  command  would 


32 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


be  inscribed  in  red  letters;  for,  as  he  tells  us,  “I  had 
not  known  sin,  except  the  commandment  had  said. 
Thou  shall  not  covet.  ”  In  the  Bible  of  Alexander 
Henderson  it  would  be,  “He  that  entereth  not  by 
the  door  into  the  sheepfold,  but  climbeth  up  some 
other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber  for 
that  was  the  shaft  which  pierced  the  conscience  of 
the  unconverted  minister.  In  the  Bible  of  the  Iron¬ 
side  soldier  the  rubric  would  be  found  at  Ecclesiastes 
xi.  9 ;  for  it  was  there  that  the  bullet  stopped,  w^hich, 
but  for  the  interposing  Bible,  would  have  pierced  his 
bosom ;  and  when  the  battle  was  over  he  read, 
“Bejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth;  and  let  thy 
heart  cheer  thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  w^alk 
in  the  ways  of  thine  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine 
eyes:  but  know’  thou,  that  for  all  these  things  God 
will  bring ‘thee  into  judgment.  ” 

Or,  suppose  that  each  were  to  mark  in  golden 
letters  the  text  which  has  been  to  him  the  gate  of 
Heaven ;  the  text  through  whose  open  lattice  a  recon¬ 
ciled  God  has  looked  forth  on  him,  or  through  whose 
telescope  he  first  has  glimpsed  the  Cross.  The 
Ethiopian  chamberlain  would  mark  the  fifty-third  of 
Isaiah;  for  it  was  wdien  reading  about  the  lamb  led 
to  the  slaughter  that  his  eye  was  directed  to  the 
Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
and  he  went  on  his  w’ay  rejoicing.  The  English 
martyr  Bilney  would  indicate  the  faithful  saying, 
“  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief” ;  for  it  w^as  in  sight  of  these  w’ords 
that  the  burden  fell  from  his  back  which  fasts  and 
penances  had  only  rendered  more  w^eighty.  There 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


33 


was  a  “stricken  deer,”  who  had  long  been  panting 
for  the  water-brooks,  but  he-  had  yet  found  no  com¬ 
fort  ;  when,  one  day,  listlessly  taking  up  a  Testament, 
it  opened  at  the  words,  “  Whom  God  hath  set  forth 
to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  His  blood,  to 
declare  His  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins 
that  are  past,  ”  and  instantly  he  realized  the  suffi¬ 
ciency  of  the  atonement,  and  embraced  the  Gospel; 
and,  doubtless,  the  Bard  of  Olney  would  signalize  by 
the  most  brilliant  memorial  the  spot  where  the  Sun 
of  Bighteousness  first  shone  into  his  soul.  “Now 
unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the  only 
wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen.  ”  These  were  the  words  which  instantly 
converted  into  a  living  temple  the  calm  and  stately 
mind  of  Jonathan  Edwards;  and  we  may  be  sure  that, 
like  Jacob,  who,  at  Luz,  would  always  see  lingering 
the  light  of  the  ladder,  every  time  he  returned  to  the 
passage,  even  in  his  most  cursory  perusal,  the  devout 
theologian  would  perceive  a  surviving  trace  of  that 
manifestation  which  into  his  vacant,  wistful  soul 
brought  “the  only  wise  God,”  and  in  glorifying  that 
God  gave  him  an  object  worthy  of  the  vastest  powers 
and  the  longest  existence. 


Let  Me  be  a  Man  of  One  Book. 

By  Rev.  JOHN  WESLEY,  M.  A. 

I  am  a  creature  of  a  day — passing  through  life  as 
an  arrow  through  the  air.  I  am  a  spirit  come  from 
God,  and  returning  to  God;  just  hovering  over  the 
great  gulf ;  till,  a  few  moments  hence,  I  am  no  more 


34 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


seen :  I  drop  into  an  unchangeable  eternity !  I  want 
to  know  one  thing-— the  way  to  Heaven ;  how  to  land 
on  that  happy  shore.  God  himself  has  condescended 
to  teach  the  way ;  for  this  very  end  He  came  from 
Heaven.  He  hath  written  it  down  in  a  book!  Oh, 
give  me  that  book  1  At  any  price,  give  me  the  book 
of  God !  I  have  it :  here  is  knowledge  enough  for 
me.  Let  me  be  ha^no  units  lihri  (a  man  of  one 
book).  Here,  then,  I  am,  far  from  the  busy  ways  of 
men.  I  sit  down  alone;  only  God  is  here.  In  His 
presence  I  open,  I  read  His  book;  for  this  end,  to 
find  the  way  to  Heaven. 


Writing  from  South  Africa  to  her  father  and 
mother,  Mary  Moffat  said:— 

“You  can  hardly  conceive  how  I  feel  when  I  sit 
in  the  house  of  God,  surrounded  by  the  natives; 
though  my  situation  may  be  despicable,  and  mean 
indeed,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  I  feel  an  honor  con¬ 
ferred  upon  me  which  the  highest  of  the  kings  of  the 
earth  could  not  have  done  me ;  and  add  to  this,  seeing 
my  dear  husband  panting  for  the  salvation  of  the 
people  with  unabated  ardor,  firmly  resolving  to  direct 
every  talent  which  God  has  given  him  to  their  good 
and  His  glory — I  am  happy,  remarkably  happy, 
though  the  present  place  of  my  habitation  is  a  single 
vestry-room,  with  a  mud  wall  and  a  mud  floor.  It  is 
true  our  sorrows  and  cares  we  must  have,  and,  in  a 
degree,  have  them  now  from  existing  circumstances 
at  the  station ;  but  is  it  not  our  happiness  to  suffer 
in  til  is  cause?” 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


35 


Bishop  Hannington. 

''If  ihis  is  ihe  last  chapter  of  earthly  history., 
then  the  next  loill  he  the  first  page  of  the  heavenly."" 

Starvation,  desertion,  treachery,  and  a  few  other 
nightmares  and  furies  hover  over  one’s  head  in 
ghostly  forms,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  all,  I  feel  in 
capital  spirits,  and  feel  sure  of  results,  though, 
perhaps,  they  may  not  come  exactly  in  the  way  we 
expect.  In  the  midst  of  the  storm  I  can  say: — 

Peace,  perfect  peace,  the  future  all  unknown; 

Jesus  we  know,  and  He  is  on  the  throne. 

4^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

7^  7^  'n  7^ 

And  now  let  me  beg  every  mite  of  spare  prayer. 
You  must  uphold  my  hands,  lest  they  fall.  If  this 
is  the  last  chapter  of  earthly  history,  then  the  next 
will  be  the  first  page  of  the  heavenly — no  blots  and 
smudges,  no  incoherence,  but  sweet  converse  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lamb! 

— Extracts  from  Letter  written  July  25th,  1885,  three  months  and 
a  few  days  before  he  was  killed. 

Spiritual  Power  for  Missionary  Work. 

What  do  we  want  ?  I  will  express  it  to  you  in 
one  word.  W e  want  a  great  revival  of  personal  piety. 
We  want  a  great  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We 
want  another  Pentecostal  season.  Then  the  numbers 
of  God’s  servants  who  will  be  prepared  to  go  forth 
as  missionaries  will  be  multiplied ;  the  silver  and  the 
gold  will  be  multiplied,  too.  The  same  blessed  Spirit 
which  stirs  up  the  hearts  of  men  to  go  and  minister 
to  their  fellow-creatures  will  stir  up  the  hearts  of  His 
people  also  to  supply  the  silver  and  the  gold.  There- 


36 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


fore  I  close  with  the  prayer:  “Awake,  O  north  wind, 
and  come,  thou  south  wind ;  blow  upon  our  garden, 
that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  forth.” 

— Rev.  Daniel  Wilson,  Vicar  of  Islington. 


In  every  age  and  every  land  the  greatest  and 
most  constraining  stimulus  to  labor  and  sacrifice  in 
the  cause  of  evangelism  is  loving  loyalty  to  Christ,  a 
sensitive  concern  for  His  honor,  enthusiasm  for  the 
coming  of  His  kingdom,  and  a  determination  that 
His  will  shall  be  done  on  earth,  even  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven. 

— Rev.  James  Gall. 


The  more  we  connect  the  missionary  cause 
with  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  luther  than  with 
effort  and  organization,  the  more  divine  will  be  the 
inspiration  for  each  detail  of  the  work.  We  belong 
to  Christ!  Then  His  cause  is  our  cause.  His  work 
ours.  His  triumph  ours.  We  shall  be  so  wrapped 
up  in  His  honor  that  we  shall  feel  enriched  when  He 
is  glorified,  and  His  kingdom  is  enlarged,  and  His 

soul  satisfied  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

— Miss  A.  Braithwaite. 


The  Mighty  Power  of  Prayer. 

By  Major  MILAN. 

The  ivhole  'poioer  of  fhe  Church  of  Clu'isi  lies  in 
prayer.  The  promises  of  God  are  nnlimiied  to 
believing  prayer.  “HZ/  things  whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  j^'^'oyer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive.'’’’  How 
tliankful  I  am  that  Livingstone  wa-s  found  on  his 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


87 


knees!  Does  it  not  tell  us  whence  came  the  power 
for  his  self-denial,  his  courage,  his  endurance  ?  Oh, 
the  mighty  power  of  prayer!  How  it  opens  the 
doors  of  the  heart!  how  it  quickens  the  energies  of 
the  soul!  how  it  revives  hope!  how  it  strengthens 
faith!  Only  let  Christians  pray  earnestly  for  the 
spread  of  the  Lord’s  kingdom  throughout  the  earth, 
they  will  find  their  purse-strings  loosed.  The  Lord 
will  honor  them  to  answer  their  own  prayer.  Only 
let  them  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  thrust 
forth  laborers  into  the  harvest,  in  sincerity  and  truth ; 
they  will  soon  find  themselves  employed  in  various 
ways  ill  His  service. 

Has  the  Church  given  sufficient  value  to  our 
Lord’s  example  in  prayer?  His  nights  and  His 
early  mornings  of  prayer,  have  they  no  voice  for  the 
Church  in  these  days? 

South  African  Missions. 


“It  is  Emphatically  no  Sacrifice.” 

Testimony  of  Rev.  Dr.  LIVINGSTONE. 

For  my  own  part,  I  have  never  ceased  to  rejoice 
that  God  has  appointed  me  to  such  an  office.  People 
talk  of  the  sacrifice  I  have  made  in  spending  so 
much  of  my  life  in  Africa.  Can  that  be  called  a 
sacrifice  which  is  simply  paid  back  as  a  small  part 
of  a  great  debt  owing  to  our  God,  which  we  can 
never  repay?  Is  that  a  sacrifice  which  brings  its 
own  blest  reward  in  healthful  activity,  the  conscious¬ 
ness  of  doing  good,  peace  of  mind,  and  a  bright  hope 
of  a  glorious  destiny  hereafter?  Away  with  the 


38 


COALS  OF  FIRE  FROM  OFF 


word  in  such  a  view,  and  with  such  a  thought !  It  is 
emphatically  no  sacrifice.  Say  rather  it  is  a  privilege. 
Anxiety,  sickness,  suffering,  or  danger,  now  and  then, 
with  a  foregoing  of  the  common  conveniences  and 
charities  of  this  life,  may  make  us  paase,  and  cause 
the  spirit  to  waver  and  the  soul  to  sink,  but  let  this 
only  be  for  a  moment.  All  these  are  nothing  Avhen 
compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  hereafter  be 
revealed  in,  and  for  us.  I  never  made  a  sacrifice. 
Of  this  we  ought  not  to  talk  when  we  remember  the 
great  sacrifice  which  He  made  who  left  His  Father’s 
throne  on  high  to  give  Himself  for  us:  “Who  being 
the  brightness  of  that  Father’s  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  His  person,  and  upholding  all  things  by 
the  word  of  His  power,  when  He  had  by  Himself 
purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high.” 

— Cambridge  Lectures. 


V/ho  Will  Go? 

By  REGINALD  RADCLIFFE,  Esq. 

Some  thirty  years  ago,  as  I  was  alone  in  a  friend’s 
house  in  a  lovely  part  of  Hertfordshire,  there  walked 
up  to  me,  calmly  and  gently,  a  man  dressed  in  dark 
blue,  carrying  his  blue  cap.  This  unobtrusive  stranger 
was  David  Livingstone.  Already  he  had  been  in  the 
jaws  of  the  lion;  but  his  heart  was  absorbed  with  love 
for  Africa’s  dark  sons.  What  was  the  secret  of  such 
loving,  not  in  words,  but  in  deeds?  Too  much 
engrossed  in  my  own  puny  work,  at  that  time  con¬ 
fined  to  Britain,  little  did  I  then  think  of  the  wonders 


THE  MISSIONARY  ALTAR. 


39 


that  unassuming  man  was  to  perform — of  his  weary 
wanderings,  sometimes  under  a  tropical  sun,  some¬ 
times  wading  through  swamps,  often  agonized  by 
the  heartrending  derastations  of  the  slave-dealer. 
He  mingled  his  tears  with  those  of  the  captives,  the 
'widows  and  children.  He  writes  do'^ni  his  prayer 
for  a  blessing  on  every  one — Christian  or  Turk — 
“who  will  help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the  world!” 
And  at  last,  after  ti’ailing  himself  along,  he  dies  of 
dysentery.  But  what  was  the  secret  of  his  power? 

Africa  had  been  hidden.  Our  traditions  of  it 
and  the  knowledge  of  it  possessed  by  the  world's 
wisest  men,  were  altogether  astray,  both  as  to  its 
geography  and  as  to  its  people.  Livingstone  flooded 
the  world  with  light  as  to  both.  Now  hear  his  secret 
in  his  own  words  from  a  touching  entry*  in  his  jour¬ 
nal,  written  upon  the  last  birthday  but  one  of  his 
eventful  life.  It  reveals  at  once  the  motive  and 
earnestness  of  his  whole  career: — 

“  My  Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my  All,  I  again 
dedicate  my  whole  self  to  Thee.” 

Like  Stephen,  Livingstone  also  was  a  man  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  At  Stephen’s  death  there  sprang 
forth  multitudes  who  forthwith  spread  the  Gospel, 
but  that  was  under  the  stimulus  of  persecution. 
Now  is  it  possible,  in  this  day  of  the  love  of  money, 
of  luxury,  and  of  ease,  that  the  Church  can,  without 
persecution,  but  remembering  the  life  and  love 
Livingstone  poured  out  for  Africa,  be  aroused  to 
rescue  her  and  claim  her  for  Livingstone’s  Master? 


*See  “Modern  Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field.'’  Hodder  and  Stoughton. 


40 


COALS  OF  FIRE. 


If  not,  how  immensely  does  it  add  to  our  responsi¬ 
bility  that  we  have  suffered  his  shattered  remains  to 
be  brought  from  afar  and  buried  in  Westminster 
^  Abbey!  He  craved  no  following  to  AYestminster, 
but  he  did  crave  and  implore  Christians  to  follow 
him  to  Africa. 

Much  has  been  done  since,  but  oh,  how  little 
compared  with  the  compassion  of  Livingstone’s 
Master!  AYhat  a  feeble  response  to  His  command, 
and  what  a  feeble  reply  to  His  challenge,  “  If  ye 
love  Me,  keep  My  commandments.”  The  slave  trade 
still  cruelly  burns,  starves,  chains,  and  kills  its  vic¬ 
tims;  still  the  civilized  Europeans  barter  useless  gin 
and  brandy  for  valuable  goods;  and  even  the  great 
International  African  Treaty  of  Berlin,  though  some 
of  the  powers  opposed,  authorizes  the  introduction  of 
this  fire-water,  that  will  destroy  such  noble  fellows 
as  those  who  faithfully  and  affectionately  bore 
Livingstone’s  remains  from  the  interior  of  their 
bleeding  country.  Yet,  if  the  AYord  of  Livingstone’s 
great  Master  were  introduced  and  lived.,  the  slave 
trade  would  vanish  like  smoke. 

AA'ho  will  go?  Many  are  wanted.  Yet  better 
far  God’s  three  hundi-ed  than  Gideon’s  thirty-two 
thousand.  Yea,  should  any  go  who  cannot  from  his 
heart  write  his  name  under  Livingstone’s  secret,  “My 
Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my  All,  I  now  dedicate 
my  whole  self  to  Thee”  ? 


vrSrnmmmmmm 


,  ^^Pe3B>^y.y;»WK:'y/l=======g 


S)IJ^GRAM 

Showing  the  Estimated  Population  of  the  World. 

(1,424,000,000.) 

Each  Square  represents  One  Mieeion  Sodes. 


wuHnmiinHL.,,^ _ 

■■■■■■■■■■■iiSinI 

UBHBBHBBniinni _ 

asssssssBoaHiicsiEic 

_ Hiiatamlninii 

■ipMm 

BBinB||l||l 

iBiWEa 

■■HilBWUilBIlllilBBi _ 

The  three  white  squares  represent  3,000,000  Mission  Converts.  Bee 
Century  of  Protestant  Missions,*’  by  Bev.  Jas.  Johnston,  F.S.S. 

Is  it  not  a  solemn  fact  that,  taking  the  world  at  large,  of  every 
three  persons  walking  on  the  vast  globe,  two  have  never  heard  of 
the  Saviour,  have  never  seen  a  Bible,  know  nothing  of  heaven  and 
nothing  of  hell  ? — Rev,  Daniel  Wilson^  Vicar  of  Islington, 


